The aroma of cooking filled the house: I sent my eldest brother to become the Grand Secretary.

Soon, the carriage arrived in front of them. Under the envious gazes of the crowd, Aunt Li stepped forward and said, "Hey, wait a minute, my daughter is in the carriage. I'm going home too, could you give me a ride?"

Shen Cao recognized Aunt Li's voice and said to the coachman, "I don't know her, let's keep going."

The coachman ignored Aunt Li and continued driving the carriage forward.

Shen Cao spoke softly to the coachman, and Aunt Li did not hear him.

She walked up to the carriage and was about to step onto it when the coachman pulled the carriage away. Aunt Li lost her balance and fell flat on her face.

"Hahahaha..." Everyone burst into laughter when they saw Aunt Li fall flat on her face.

Aunt Li got up, dusted herself off, and heard everyone laughing at her, but she didn't argue with them.

He spat and stormed home, thinking, "Just wait till I get back and teach her a lesson. She thinks that just because she's become the county magistrate's man, she can act like she owns her own mother."

"I'll show her who's whose father today."

Some onlookers saw Aunt Li walking home and followed her.

From afar, you could see Aunt Li leading a group of people home, looking quite impressive.

Aunt Li enjoyed the adulation of everyone along the way. Whenever someone asked her about it, she would proudly tell them, "It's because her daughter came back and brought a bunch of nice things to give to her."

When the procession was about to reach Aunt Li's house, it could be seen from afar that the carriage did not slow down and soon passed Aunt Li's house and continued on its way.

Everyone looked at Aunt Li, wanting to laugh, but also worried about Aunt Li's future retaliation, so no one dared to speak.

Aunt Li's face was like a palette, changing countless colors in just a few seconds.

So it turns out Aunt Li was just being presumptuous; the carriage wasn't even going to her house.

However, in this village, apart from her family having relatives who could afford to ride in a horse-drawn carriage, who else could?

Everyone was curious about whose house this magnificent carriage was going to.

They all unconsciously continued walking forward.

It wasn't until the carriage stopped at the end of the village, at that dilapidated thatched hut, that everyone realized the carriage had gone to the notoriously poor Shen family.

Aunt Li was terrified when she saw the carriage stop in front of the Shen family's house. Could it be that the Shen family had powerful backers?

To find out the reason, a group of people headed towards the Shen family's house.

As they approached the Shen family's gate, they saw that it was indeed members of the Shen family getting off the carriage.

In the end, Shen's father carried someone on his back. When he saw the person's face clearly, he suddenly realized that it was Shen's eldest son.

But why does this eldest son of the Shen family look so weak?

"What's going on? How did Shen's eldest son end up being carried on his father's back?"

"I remember Shen's eldest son was studying in the city, so why was he carried back?"

"Perhaps he made some mistake at school and was sent back!"

“Look, the others brought back all of Shen Jia Dalang’s luggage, big and small.”

"It must be that Shen Jia Dalang made a mistake and was punished by the school and sent back."

The chattering of the crowd revealed to Aunt Li that the Shen family had no powerful backers, and that the eldest son of the Shen family had been expelled from school.

She was so happy that she forgot all about the embarrassing thing that had just happened.

He went up to Shen's mother and said, "Oh, what happened to your eldest son? Why was he brought back lying down?"

"He probably did something bad and got kicked out of school."

After speaking, she covered her face with a handkerchief and smiled as she looked at the villagers behind her.

Mother Shen was very anxious because of her words, "My Chen'er has not been sent back from school." But she said it so softly that no one heard her.

A group of people started pointing and whispering.

Shen Cao put down her luggage and saw this scene.

She asked Shen's mother a question, then walked up to Aunt Li and slapped her across the face.

Aunt Li was a little stunned by Shen Cao's slap. When she came to her senses and realized that Shen Cao had actually slapped her, she immediately rolled up her sleeves and prepared to tear Shen Cao apart.

The people behind her noticed something was wrong and pulled her back.

Shen Cao looked at everyone and said, "I don't know who said my older brother was expelled from the school. But I want to make it clear to you again that my older brother was not expelled from the school."

"He's just going home to recuperate temporarily."

"Furthermore, my Shen family is not one to back down from trouble. If Shen Cao finds out who is spreading rumors about my elder brother's reputation, don't blame me for turning my back on them."

"I, Shen Cao, have nothing but my worthless life. If anyone dares to bully my family, I will fight them to the death."

After Shen Cao finished speaking, he pulled out the dagger that Wei Siyu had given him earlier.

"This is just a lesson. Next time, I'll use this dagger. Anyway, my life isn't worth much, so it's worth trading my life for yours."

Looking at the crowd of people who had gathered to watch the spectacle, Shen Cao suddenly felt that her decision was absolutely correct; the villagers just couldn't stand to see her family doing well.

They all wished their own families were destitute, or even more miserable, to satisfy their desires, so that they would feel there were people in the world worse off than them, and that would give them a sense of balance.

They would never accept being the worst off.

Shen Cao glared fiercely at everyone. Rather than waiting for others to bully her, she decided to go crazy and say some harsh words first, letting them know that she was not someone to be trifled with and that they should not mess with her for no reason.

Aunt Li was already angry after being slapped, and when she was pulled away, she struggled violently, trying to rush up and tear her apart.

But when she saw Shen Cao take out a dagger, she panicked.

When she saw Shen Cao staring at her with a fierce look, she felt a little scared.

Those who rush in fear those who are stubborn, those who are stubborn fear those who are reckless, and those who are reckless fear those who are suicidal.

Shen Cao's words reminded her that she was the county magistrate's mother-in-law, whose life was worth far more than Shen Cao's.

Perhaps frightened by Shen Cao's words and attitude, the rest of the villagers left one after another.

Even Aunt Li left sullenly, saying "You just wait."

Once the entrance finally quieted down, Shen Cao walked up to the coachman and said, "Brother, would you like to come in and have a glass of water?"

The coachman, as expected, had seen a lot in the world. He wasn't intimidated by Shen Cao's fierce demeanor, but instead looked at this fourteen-year-old girl with new respect.

Thinking that his master was still waiting for him, he waved his hand and said, "No, it's getting late, I have to hurry back before dawn."

Looking at the sky, Shen Cao knew that the coachman was right. She took out the money she had prepared and said, "Brother, I don't know how to thank you. This is just a little money. Please take it and have some drinks."

The coachman quickly refused, as this was his young master's friend, and if he accepted the money, it would be a disgrace to his young master.

When Shen Cao saw that the coachman didn't want money, she remembered that she hadn't eaten the vegetable dumplings she had prepared for him that day, so she took a few and let him try them.

When the coachman saw that they were vegetable dumplings, he didn't refuse. He was also hungry and could have one on the way back.